Everything You Wanted to Know About Skin Checks (But Were Afraid to Ask the Internet)

If you haven't had a full-body skin check recently—or ever—I'm not going to guilt-trip you about it. (Heck, I've had more than one Allure editor confess to me that it's been years since she's gotten checked out.) I will tell you that it's fast, painless, and usually covered by your insurance for the cost of a specialist-visit co-pay. Here's what else you might want to know.

Is there anything I should do to get ready?

Wear your hair down and remove any nail polish: Your doctor will want to examine your scalp, and your nails need an exam, too. In the exam room, remove your clothes and slip into the robe. It's OK to wear makeup, but bring along whatever you need for touch-ups, since your doctor may need to remove some for a better look at the skin.

Do I have to stand there totally naked?

When we say skin check, we do mean all your skin—your dermatologist will examine you from your scalp (where she may use a blow dryer to scan through your hair) to the face, ears, lips, inside the mouth, neck, chest, trunk, buttocks, arms, armpits, legs, nails, palms, and soles of your feet. I usually uncover one part of the body at a time and tell my patients to leave their underwear on (I'll move it around as needed!). Dermatologists don't routinely examine the genital skin unless you mention a specific concern, but remember: We went to school for what feels like a million years to be trained how to do so if there's a problem.

What's the dermatologist looking for, exactly?

Pink, pearly, or rough-looking bumps, or open sores that won't heal (these could be nonmelanoma skin cancers). Tiny rough papules over the face, the backs of the hands, or the forearms (possible precancers). Moles that are asymmetric or have unusual or uneven color, jagged borders, or a large size (wider than the diameter of a pencil eraser), which could signal melanoma. A dark streak under a nail or inside the mouth could also be melanoma. Plus, any mole or lesion on the skin that stands out from everything else around it—it's what we call the ugly-duckling sign.

Do I have to tell her that I used tanning beds in high school? I haven't done it since.

She's probably going to ask you a series of questions, including: Have you noticed anything new on your skin? Have you ever had a skin cancer? Has a family member? Have you ever gone indoor tanning? Have you ever had a blistering sunburn? Do you wear sunscreen every day? Each of these factors could increase the likelihood of skin cancer—and if you've gone to all the trouble of making the appointment and showing up, you might as well be honest about your risk factors for skin cancer. And hey, I'm not one to pass judgment. I may be a dermatologist, but I've seen the inside of a tanning bed, too.

I have a ton of moles. Should I be worried about them?

These benign brown spots are entirely normal, can be raised or flat, and are made of a collection of melanocytes (the pigment-producing cells) within the skin. Some of us are genetically predisposed to make them by the dozen, but sun exposure can also trigger new moles. The reason we pay special attention to nevi—that's the medical term for moles—is because they can resemble melanoma, and 54 percent of the time, melanoma arises within an existing mole, (according to a November 2015 study from JAMA Dermatology). If you have 50 or more moles on your body, research shows that you are at an elevated risk for melanoma. The risk might jump by a few percentage points (if your moles tend to be small and round) but could be over 80 percent if you have a strong family history of melanoma.

What's mole mapping?

Mole mapping is a painless, noninvasive tool to help detect melanoma. A technician takes up to 20 digital photos of your skin surface, then the dermatologist will look for any suspicious moles that should be monitored more closely; a microscopic photograph is taken of the most atypical-looking moles and then "mapped" to the larger photos. The images can be reviewed for changes during your next skin check—usually 6 to 12 months later. It's usually recommended for people who are considered high risk, but it can help avoid needless skin biopsies (it's reassuring when a mole hasn't changed, month after month) and can help detect a new melanoma that might otherwise go unnoticed in a sea of surrounding moles.

If I need a biopsy, is that a really bad sign?

No! It just means your dermatologist wants to do a simple test to determine exactly what type of skin lesion you have. Specifically, by looking at the skin under the microscope, she can see the types of cells in the skin and tell if any of them are cancerous. Before freaking out about a skin biopsy, know this: They're less painful than a flu shot and take five minutes, tops. Your dermatologist will inject numbing medication into the skin using a tiny needle (this stings for about 10 seconds), then uses a small blade or cookie-cutter-like tool to take a small sample that's usually somewhere around the size of a small stud earring. Sometimes, she'll throw in one or two stitches to help the site heal, which it does in about a week. Daily application of petroleum jelly and a bandage can help minimize the scar.